A supervisor at the Population Registry offices in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem was arrested Wednesday on charges that she sold Israeli travel permits to Arabs who are generally not permitted to travel outside the city. The woman sold the permits for “unspecified benefits,” a police statement said.
The woman has also been accused of stealing money from the office. She has been detained and is being questioned. Police plan to ask for an extension of her remand, and said that additional arrests are expected.
Arab residents of neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem are generally allowed to travel around the city, but as they are not Israeli citizens they cannot travel to other parts of the country without a permit. The permits are considered very valuable among Jerusalem Arabs, because they afford them access to many more business and work opportunities. Israel limits the number of permits issued because of security reasons, as numerous suicide bombers and terrorists have taken advantage of the program to set off attacks in Israeli cities.
The Population Registry said in a statement that police were handling the matter.
Last August, an officer in the IDF’s Central Command was investigated on suspicion that he issued entry permits for Arab residents of Judea and Samaria in return for bribes.